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8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Great Western Main Line site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Great Western Main Line, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Great Western Main Line, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

{||}|}The Great Western Main Line is a main line railway in England that runs westwards from London Paddington station to Bristol Temple Meads railway station station in Bristol. The term is also used to denote a wider group of routes, see #Associated routes below.

It is the original route of the pre-1948 Great Western Railway which was subsequently taken over by the Western Region of British Railways and is now part of the Network Rail system.

History The first section of the Great Western Railway was opened from London to a temprorary station on the east side of the Thames at Maidenhead on 4 June 1838. The remaining line was opened in stages as the engineering works were completed:

• Maidenhead to Twyford railway station – 1 July 1839
• Twyford to Reading railway station – 30 March 1840
• Reading to Steventon railway station – 1 June 1840
• Steventon to Challow railway station – 20 June 1840
• Faringdon Road to Hay Lane railway station – 17 December 1840
• Hay Lane to Chippenham railway station – 31 May 1841
• Chippenham to Bath Spa railway station – 30 June 1841
• Bath to Bristol Temple Meads railway station – 31 August 1840

The original broad gauge was suplemented by a third rail to allow "narrow" gauge trains to operate over the route in various stages between 1854 and 1875, but the broad gauge rail was retained until the last empty trains had been worked back from Penzance railway station on 21 May 1892. The dates that the sections were Dual gauge were:

• London to Reading – 1 October 1861
• Reading to Didcot railway station – 22 December 1856
• Didcot to Swindon railway station – February 1872
• Swindon to Thingley Junction, Chippenham railway station – June 1874
• Thingley Junction to Bathampton railway station – 16 March 1875
• Bathampton to Bristol – June 1874
• Bristol station area – 29 May 1854

The original two tracks have been widened to four at several places:

• Paddington to Southall railway station – 1 October 1877
• Southall to West Drayton railway station – 25 November 1878
• West Drayton to Slough railway station – 1 June 1879
• Slough to east side of Maidenhead Railway Bridge – 8 September 1884
• Maidenhead Bridge to Reading railway station – 4 June 1893
• Reading station – 1899
• Reading to Pangbourne railway station – 30 July 1893
• Pangbourne to Cholsey and Moulsford railway station –
• Cholsey & Moulsford to Didcot railway station – 27 December 1892
• Various short sections between Didcot and Swindon, and at Bristol

Services Main line and local services are provided by First Great Western (FGW). The stations served by express trains between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads are: Slough railway station, Reading railway station, Didcot Parkway railway station, Swindon railway station, Chippenham railway station, and Bath Spa railway station. Not all trains call at all of these stations, especially Slough, Didcot and Chippenham.

Fast trains from Paddington to Heathrow Airport are operated by British Airports Authority as the Heathrow Express . Local services on this route are jointly operated by FGW and BAA under the Heathrow Connect name.

Virgin Trains operate between Reading and Didcot, and South West Trains operate a limited number of trains between Bath and Bristol.

Infrastructure The line speed is 125 mph (200 km/h) from London to Wootton Bassett and 100 mph (160 km/h) from there to Bristol, having been upgraded during the 1970s to support the introduction of the Intercity 125 (HST). The relief lines from Paddington to Didcot are currently limited to 90 mph (144 km/h) as far as Airport Junction, 75 mph (120 km/h) from there to Reading, and then 100 mph to Didcot. Lower restrictions apply at various locations.

It is one of only two lines in the UK to be equipped with the Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system, the other being the Chiltern Main Line.

The line is Railway electrification in Great Britain at 25 kV AC overhead between Paddington and Airport Junction, the junction with the line to Heathrow Airport near Hayes and Harlington railway station.

Associated routes Trains on the Great Western Main Line are sometimes diverted from Reading railway station along the Reading to Plymouth Line as far as Westbury railway station, from where they can use the Wessex Main Line to reach either Chippenham railway station and Swindon railway station, or Bath Spa railway station and Bristol Temple Meads.

Beyond Bristol, some trains continue on the Bristol to Taunton Line to Weston-super-Mare railway station or beyond.

The Network Rail 2007 Business Plan includes the following routes as part of their Great Western Main Line (Route 13):

• Didcot railway station to Oxford railway station and Worcester Foregate Street railway station via the Cherwell Valley Line and Cotswold Line
• Swindon to Cheltenham Spa railway station via the Golden Valley Line
• Swindon to Cardiff Central railway station and Swansea railway station via the South Wales Main Line
• Cross Country Routes south of Birmingham
• All connecting branch lines.

Future plans It is planned to extend electrification from Airport Junction to Maidenhead railway station (and possibly Reading) in connection with the Crossrail scheme, however privatisation of the railways has brought rail electrification in Britain to a virtual stop.

Traffic levels on the Great Western Main Line are rising faster than national average, with continued increases predicted. The now defunct Strategic Rail Authority produced a Route Utilisation Strategy for the Great Western Main Line in 2005 to propose ways of meeting this demand; Network Rail plan to implement a new study in 2008. In the meantime, their 2007 Business Plan highlights the large number of delays that can be reduced by improving the quality of the track, to which end a major renewal programme is underway from bases as Reading railway station and Taunton railway station#Fairwater Yard. Further capacity improvements are also scheduled at Swindon railway station, adding to recent changes and the new Platform 4. Some of the speed restrictions on the relief lines between Reading and London will be raised so that 86% of the line can be used at 90 mph (144 km/h).

Other more distant aspirations include resignalling and capacity improvements at Reading; the provision of four continuous tracks between Didcot Parkway railway station and Swindon railway station (including a grade-separated junction at Milton, where the down (westbound) relief line switches from the north side of the line to the south); and resignalling between Bath Spa railway station and Bristol Temple Meads railway station to enable trains to run closer together.

Route Communities served: London (including Acton, London , Ealing, Hanwell) - Southall - Hayes, Hillingdon - Harlington, London - West Drayton - Iver - Slough - Langley, Slough - Burnham, Buckinghamshire - Taplow - Maidenhead - Twyford, Berkshire - Reading, Berkshire - Tilehurst - Goring-on-Thames - Streatley, Berkshire - Cholsey - Didcot - Swindon - Chippenham - Bath, Somerset - Keynsham - Bristol

The main line was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and opened in stages by the Great Western Railway between 1838 and 1841. It was originally a broad gauge railway. Evidence of this can be seen at many places where bridges are a little wider than usual, or tracks ten feet apart instead of the usual six.

From London to Didcot Parkway railway station the line follows the Thames Valley, crossing the River Thames three times, including on the famous Maidenhead Railway Bridge. On this section there are four tracks, grouped by speed with the "relief" lines on the north side of the "main" lines. Most smaller stations only have platforms in use on the relief lines.

, as seen from a train on the GWML.Didcot is home to the Didcot Railway Centre, a working steam railway museum. Soon after leaving Didcot, trains pass Didcot Power Station, a major source of freight traffic on the route with heavy coal trains running from Avonmouth railway station near Bristol. Between Didcot and Wootton Bassett there are a series of loop lines to allow fast trains to overtake slower ones. This section is also signalled for bi-directional running on each line but this facility is usually only used during engineering working or due to significant disruption to traffic in one direction.

Swindon, the next station, was the centre of the Great Western Railway and is still the headquarters for First Great Western. Leaving the station, trains pass the Swindon railway works on the north side of the line, now home to Swindon Steam Railway Museum. On the opposite side of the line is the "Railway Village", an area of industrial housing laid out for the employees of the railway workshops and a good example of early social housing.

At Wootton Bassett the two different routes to Bristol Temple Meads railway station – via Box Tunnel and via Bristol Parkway railway station – allow flexibility. A third arrangement is to run via the Wessex Main Line but this involves a reversal at Bradford Junction so is only really suitable for multiple unit trains. A further diversionary route is available from Reading railway station to Bath Spa railway station via Newbury railway station.

References

• 2007 Business Plan, Network Rail, London

{||}|}The Great Western Main Line is a main line railway in England that runs westwards from London Paddington station to Bristol Temple Meads railway station station in Bristol. The term is also used to denote a wider group of routes, see #Associated routes below.

It is the original route of the pre-1948 Great Western Railway which was subsequently taken over by the Western Region of British Railways and is now part of the Network Rail system.

History The first section of the Great Western Railway was opened from London to a temprorary station on the east side of the Thames at Maidenhead on 4 June 1838. The remaining line was opened in stages as the engineering works were completed:

• Maidenhead to Twyford railway station – 1 July 1839
• Twyford to Reading railway station – 30 March 1840
• Reading to Steventon railway station – 1 June 1840
• Steventon to Challow railway station – 20 June 1840
• Faringdon Road to Hay Lane railway station – 17 December 1840
• Hay Lane to Chippenham railway station – 31 May 1841
• Chippenham to Bath Spa railway station – 30 June 1841
• Bath to Bristol Temple Meads railway station – 31 August 1840

The original broad gauge was suplemented by a third rail to allow "narrow" gauge trains to operate over the route in various stages between 1854 and 1875, but the broad gauge rail was retained until the last empty trains had been worked back from Penzance railway station on 21 May 1892. The dates that the sections were Dual gauge were:

• London to Reading – 1 October 1861
• Reading to Didcot railway station – 22 December 1856
• Didcot to Swindon railway station – February 1872
• Swindon to Thingley Junction, Chippenham railway station – June 1874
• Thingley Junction to Bathampton railway station – 16 March 1875
• Bathampton to Bristol – June 1874
• Bristol station area – 29 May 1854

The original two tracks have been widened to four at several places:

• Paddington to Southall railway station – 1 October 1877
• Southall to West Drayton railway station – 25 November 1878
• West Drayton to Slough railway station – 1 June 1879
• Slough to east side of Maidenhead Railway Bridge – 8 September 1884
• Maidenhead Bridge to Reading railway station – 4 June 1893
• Reading station – 1899
• Reading to Pangbourne railway station – 30 July 1893
• Pangbourne to Cholsey and Moulsford railway station –
• Cholsey & Moulsford to Didcot railway station – 27 December 1892
• Various short sections between Didcot and Swindon, and at Bristol

Services Main line and local services are provided by First Great Western (FGW). The stations served by express trains between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads are: Slough railway station, Reading railway station, Didcot Parkway railway station, Swindon railway station, Chippenham railway station, and Bath Spa railway station. Not all trains call at all of these stations, especially Slough, Didcot and Chippenham.

Fast trains from Paddington to Heathrow Airport are operated by British Airports Authority as the Heathrow Express . Local services on this route are jointly operated by FGW and BAA under the Heathrow Connect name.

Virgin Trains operate between Reading and Didcot, and South West Trains operate a limited number of trains between Bath and Bristol.

Infrastructure The line speed is 125 mph (200 km/h) from London to Wootton Bassett and 100 mph (160 km/h) from there to Bristol, having been upgraded during the 1970s to support the introduction of the Intercity 125 (HST). The relief lines from Paddington to Didcot are currently limited to 90 mph (144 km/h) as far as Airport Junction, 75 mph (120 km/h) from there to Reading, and then 100 mph to Didcot. Lower restrictions apply at various locations.

It is one of only two lines in the UK to be equipped with the Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system, the other being the Chiltern Main Line.

The line is Railway electrification in Great Britain at 25 kV AC overhead between Paddington and Airport Junction, the junction with the line to Heathrow Airport near Hayes and Harlington railway station.

Associated routes Trains on the Great Western Main Line are sometimes diverted from Reading railway station along the Reading to Plymouth Line as far as Westbury railway station, from where they can use the Wessex Main Line to reach either Chippenham railway station and Swindon railway station, or Bath Spa railway station and Bristol Temple Meads.

Beyond Bristol, some trains continue on the Bristol to Taunton Line to Weston-super-Mare railway station or beyond.

The Network Rail 2007 Business Plan includes the following routes as part of their Great Western Main Line (Route 13):

• Didcot railway station to Oxford railway station and Worcester Foregate Street railway station via the Cherwell Valley Line and Cotswold Line
• Swindon to Cheltenham Spa railway station via the Golden Valley Line
• Swindon to Cardiff Central railway station and Swansea railway station via the South Wales Main Line
• Cross Country Routes south of Birmingham
• All connecting branch lines.

Future plans It is planned to extend electrification from Airport Junction to Maidenhead railway station (and possibly Reading) in connection with the Crossrail scheme, however privatisation of the railways has brought rail electrification in Britain to a virtual stop.

Traffic levels on the Great Western Main Line are rising faster than national average, with continued increases predicted. The now defunct Strategic Rail Authority produced a Route Utilisation Strategy for the Great Western Main Line in 2005 to propose ways of meeting this demand; Network Rail plan to implement a new study in 2008. In the meantime, their 2007 Business Plan highlights the large number of delays that can be reduced by improving the quality of the track, to which end a major renewal programme is underway from bases as Reading railway station and Taunton railway station#Fairwater Yard. Further capacity improvements are also scheduled at Swindon railway station, adding to recent changes and the new Platform 4. Some of the speed restrictions on the relief lines between Reading and London will be raised so that 86% of the line can be used at 90 mph (144 km/h).

Other more distant aspirations include resignalling and capacity improvements at Reading; the provision of four continuous tracks between Didcot Parkway railway station and Swindon railway station (including a grade-separated junction at Milton, where the down (westbound) relief line switches from the north side of the line to the south); and resignalling between Bath Spa railway station and Bristol Temple Meads railway station to enable trains to run closer together.

Route Communities served: London (including Acton, London , Ealing, Hanwell) - Southall - Hayes, Hillingdon - Harlington, London - West Drayton - Iver - Slough - Langley, Slough - Burnham, Buckinghamshire - Taplow - Maidenhead - Twyford, Berkshire - Reading, Berkshire - Tilehurst - Goring-on-Thames - Streatley, Berkshire - Cholsey - Didcot - Swindon - Chippenham - Bath, Somerset - Keynsham - Bristol

The main line was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and opened in stages by the Great Western Railway between 1838 and 1841. It was originally a broad gauge railway. Evidence of this can be seen at many places where bridges are a little wider than usual, or tracks ten feet apart instead of the usual six.

From London to Didcot Parkway railway station the line follows the Thames Valley, crossing the River Thames three times, including on the famous Maidenhead Railway Bridge. On this section there are four tracks, grouped by speed with the "relief" lines on the north side of the "main" lines. Most smaller stations only have platforms in use on the relief lines.

, as seen from a train on the GWML.Didcot is home to the Didcot Railway Centre, a working steam railway museum. Soon after leaving Didcot, trains pass Didcot Power Station, a major source of freight traffic on the route with heavy coal trains running from Avonmouth railway station near Bristol. Between Didcot and Wootton Bassett there are a series of loop lines to allow fast trains to overtake slower ones. This section is also signalled for bi-directional running on each line but this facility is usually only used during engineering working or due to significant disruption to traffic in one direction.

Swindon, the next station, was the centre of the Great Western Railway and is still the headquarters for First Great Western. Leaving the station, trains pass the Swindon railway works on the north side of the line, now home to Swindon Steam Railway Museum. On the opposite side of the line is the "Railway Village", an area of industrial housing laid out for the employees of the railway workshops and a good example of early social housing.

At Wootton Bassett the two different routes to Bristol Temple Meads railway station – via Box Tunnel and via Bristol Parkway railway station – allow flexibility. A third arrangement is to run via the Wessex Main Line but this involves a reversal at Bradford Junction so is only really suitable for multiple unit trains. A further diversionary route is available from Reading railway station to Bath Spa railway station via Newbury railway station.

References

• 2007 Business Plan, Network Rail, London

Great Western Main Line - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Great Western Main Line is a main line railway in England that runs westwards from London Paddington station to Temple Meads station in Bristol.

Category:Great Western Main Line - Wikimedia Commons
Media in category "Great Western Main Line" The following 35 files are in this category, out of 35 total.

Great Western Railway Main Index
Great Western Railway Main Index - GWR history 1835 - 1900 ... by an Act of Parliament on the 31 st August 1835 to provide a double tracked line ...

Great Western steam locomotives - 'Castle' class index
Chuchward abandoned the notion of Pacifics for Great Western main-line passenger work and concentrated, after experimenting with French-built compound 4-4-2s, on four-cylinder 4-6 ...

Route 13 Great Western Main Line
Network Rail brings the country together. We own, operate, maintain and invest in Britain's rail network. Increasingly we are delivering improved standards of safety, reliability ...

First Great Western - Combined Rail and Admission Ticket
First Great Western – Plan & book tickets online, view Live ... Main navigation. Home; Tickets & Fares; Train Times; Travelling ... Day Returns; Flat rate train fares on the Severn Beach Line ...

First Great Western - Jobs
First Great Western – Plan & book tickets online, view Live Network Updates and find Live ... Main navigation. Home; Tickets & Fares; Train Times; Travelling with us; Destinations; About Us

Business Plan 2006 - Route 13: Great Western Main Line
Route context The backbone ofthe Great Western Main Line (GWML) is the high-speed section from London Paddington through Swindon to CardiffCentral and to Bristol Temple Meads.

Route 13 Great Western Main Line
2 Network Rail - SPB Route Plans (October 2007) Route 13 Great Western Main Line 13 Route 13 GWML Section 1: Today's railway Route context The backbone of the Great Western Main ...

Great Western Society Main Line Steam
Note that clicking on photos on this site will open a new window with a larger picture